Grangemouth Congres 2011 - A new season dawns

"Earlier on today apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said she had heard that there was a hurricane on the way.  Well if you are watching, don't worry there isn't,"

One of the Met Office's finest moments back in 1987.  I still remember it well as I was at School in England and was woken up by the fire alarm in the middle of the night.  A hurricane alert had been issued in the area and we were all moved into the centre of the School for safety.

Fast forward 24 years and I am sitting in a car with Michael Hanley driving to Grangemouth for the annual congress.  We can see the car in front if they have been bothered to put their lights on.  The rain is so heavy the windscreen wipers do not have a chance.  We had a little diversion in Cumbernauld as the road layout has changed and we could not see the signs!  The car aquaplanes and Mike (who was driving) asks me what that was.  Sometimes walking is safer than being in the car with Mike!

Welcome to the Grangemouth congress, located as it is in Grangemouth Town hall.   Grangemouth holds something specials for me.  It was the last Weekend congress I played in before my enforced semi-retirement to be become an Arbiter!

There was a slight disappointment this year.  My toys did not arrive in time so I was not able to use the DGT boards here.  Real pity as I was looking forward to it!

First 3 rounds have gone without incident.  The introduction of digital clocks has meant that Arbiters are now able to do much much more than they were before (as we are not having to jump up and down all the time to change analogue clocks!) and it is not uncommon to see us sitting in front of laptops working on something.  No time scrambles and no draw claims as yet.

One of the winners from the Junior event

I often wonder why we are seeing less and less draw claims.  We have all spoken about it and no one can fathom the reason.  When I first became an Arbiter, we had on average 1 per round.  Now you are lucky to get 1 per tournament.   The most interesting idea I have heard so far is the reason for it is we now use digital clocks meaning players can use their time more effectively. 

The one thing I love about tournaments is the camaraderie we have with the players.  There is nothing better than trying to get from the desk to where the results are on the wall and every 5 metres is someone who wants to stop and have a chat!   Scotland is blessed with some excellent characters on the chess scene, both young and old.

Long may that continue!